Many types of weed control methods and tools have been developed for the garden industry. Several non-chemical manual weed control methods have been used, and most involve cultivation with sharp edged blades of some type fixed to handles. These blades are manipulated about the soil to disrupt weed growth, sever weed roots, and dislodge them from the soil. The blade type garden tool of U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,874 and others commonly known as cultivators, hoes, hand plows and Cape Cod Weeders for example, are only partially effective due to the fact that they sever weed roots off underground leaving roots that may then re-grow. Additionally many of the dislodged weeds will also re-grow in their new location if they are not subsequently picked up for disposal, thus adding to the inefficient work involved. Also, the sharp edged blades often nick and damage the roots of desirable plants growing nearby and therefore render these tools ineffective around the closely spaced plantings found in many gardens.
It is to be noted that the aforementioned and all other referenced patents and applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Furthermore, where a definition or use of a term in a reference, which is incorporated by reference herein is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
Another type of weed control is individual weed removal. For example U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,061,175 and 5,375,401 and 5,535,833 show grip type weeding apparatuses utilizing a cutting blade and a pivotal claw arranged to close against the surface of the blade thus pinching the weed for removal. These types of tools tend to be somewhat useful for picking up weeds and debris but fail to be effective for pulling plant material from the ground due to their single point or narrow edge pinching mechanisms which apply their gripping pressure over a very small surface area. This tends to crush and tear or sever the plant material at a concentrated pinch area instead of holding it firm enough to be pulled out of the soil intact. Other designs for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 437,466 and 3,276,805 and 4,400,029 and D206,544 have incorporated cup or opposing channel sections that trap the weed but these also tend to crush and/or sever the majority of roots and or become clogged and need repeated cleaning.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,234,241 and 7,063,168 and 7,845,696 show various methods utilizing a plurality of spikes or blades coming together to trap the plant and root structure to be removed. Some of the above noted tools are effective in removal of larger weeds with tough tap roots, for example dandelions typical in lawns, but they are generally large cumbersome tools designed for use by a standing operator using both hands and sometimes feet as well. These tools are generally expensive to manufacture and do not address the issue of smaller weeds and grasses most common among typical vegetable or flower gardens where a smaller hand operated tool suitable for both tap root weeds and multi-rootlet type weeds would be better suited.
Attempts have been made to create a plier-based hand-weeding tool but these too have failed in several ways. For example in U.S. Pat. No. 2,239,108 the jaws come together at a relatively narrow peak along their length and again this dull knife-edge tends to concentrate forces, severing tender roots instead of gripping them for removal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,619 shows an improvement in gripping and leverage but does not address the vital root system as the above ground stem is the only portion of the plant grasped and often the stem snaps leaving the underground roots in place to grow again. U.S. Pat. No. 4,389,065 shows an improvement in gripping technology using rubber gripping pads but due to the blunt design necessitates first digging around the weed or plant to expose the root structure for gripping adding unnecessary work and in addition the handle structure is not user friendly.
Avid gardeners are all too well aware that complete removal including the roots of a weed plant is always the best option for preventing re-growth of the same weed. Often the most effective and quickest method of weed control for many gardeners is to resort to using their hands, or more specifically their fingers, to grip and remove individual weeds and roots and dispose of them entirely. In addition to this method being hard on ones hands, especially where spiny weeds are an issue, the main problem is that even strong fingered individuals will have difficulty in firmly gripping and pulling stubborn well-rooted weeds, for example buttercup weed. Many weeds like buttercup are also very prone to root stem breakage when pulled and when broken or crushed become slimy and even more difficult to grip. Of course those portions left behind grow again exacerbating the problem.
As a consequence of all the aforementioned problems, there remains a real need to provide improved methods and apparatus for hand weeding gardens, which grip and remove entire weeds efficiently without crushing, severing, or breaking roots, and without clogging.